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BoomKLAKers – A Funky New Kids App Shows How To Feel the Beat and Dance

Antwerpen, Belgium – Touted as “one of the most interesting and remarkable” kids apps to be released this month (Top Best Apps For Kids), BoomKLAKers offers a new approach to engaging toddlers in digital play. Kids can choose from thirteen unique colorful creatures each set in funky industrial scenes. Every tap on the monster causes a reaction of movement and sound, and after a certain number of movements/sounds, stars fall down the screen accompanied by children cheering. All of the movements and sounds are then played as a continuous sequence and the next grooving creature appears with a new lot of beats. There are no levels to achieve and no “wrong answers” with BoomKLAKers – just pure music making.

Beste Kinder Apps (Germany) applauds BoomKLAKers new approach. “BoomKLAKers is a unique and extraordinary app for kids, both contentwise and also with its awesome design. In this app you will not find young children on a meadow singing some kids song, but instead funny monsters who perform streetdance on industrial sceneries.”

Fun Educational Apps (US) called BoomKLAKers “a much needed reprieve from the typical children’s music apps.” They say, “Let’s face it; parents can get pretty tired of the sing-songy versions of our children’s favorite music. This app gives us a much needed break from the ABC song or Twinkle Twinkle. With the focus on percussive beats derived from modern pop and lock style dancing, this app has a whole different feel. The easy tapping interface is perfect for my 15 month old, but engaging enough that my four year old also had fun with it. I like that the beat is broken down into a sequence of steps and then put together as a whole at the end of each scene. The monsters and backgrounds are unique and bright, again perfect for our young children.”

Spain says, “if we were to summarize this app in 3 words they would be : music, rhythm and movement.” (Friikids.com)”Una app con mucho ritmo. Que suene la musica y todos a bailar!” (An app with a lot of rhythm. Let the music play and everybody dance!) Friikids says BoomKLAKers is perfect for small children and even listen to the babies who are born with the innate ability to move and smile when they hear any music.

Smart Apps for Kids affirms the broad appeal of BoomKLAKers. “Great for little kids or children with special needs who benefit from a cause/effect type of app, and could also be used to develop motor control, since only tapping on the monster will cause a reaction. Any of the creatures are available via an index on the right of the screen, so if your child has a favorite, he can call on it at any time. Children can also scroll from one monster to the next by swiping the screen.”

BoomKLAKers creator Rosa Mei, a professional American choreographer and martial artist currently based in Europe, came up with the concept of BoomKLAKers when trying to entertain her baby twins. “My babies grew up watching dance and martial arts, listening to beatboxers and rappers practicing in our studios. They love movement and music. It engages them and makes them so happy. They bounce and do mock head banging to the beats. Before my little girl could say mama, she said “Boom KA!” and would start dancing.” Mei says she was inspired to create an app for kids that would give toddlers all over the world a similar kid of joy.

She decided to collaborate with Teddy Guilbaud, a beatboxer,percussionist,jazz musician and champion slam artist from France. Rosa and Teddy have collaborated for 10 years through Cie 13, an experimental dance troupe based in Antwerpen, Belgium. Originally from Nantes, Teddy’s influences include Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker and Aphex Twins, among others. Together they decided to create an app for toddlers with a whole different feel, something funky, radical, cool and utterly engaging for tots.

“We didn’t want to make the same old, same old,” Mei explained. “Why not have toddlers listen to funky music with beatbox rhythms? My babies love it and I’m hoping that others will too.”

Features:
* Kids get to see Action/Reaction in real time
* Their taps create the sequences for the dancing monsters
* The animated monsters move to the beat of the music
* Created by a choreographer/dancer Rosa Mei
* Featuring the coolest soundtracks by sound artist Teddy Guilbaud
* Inspired by poppers, lockers, martial artists and cirque acrobats
* The animated monsters move to the beat of the music
* Bouncing to the beat makes kids happy
* No in-app purchases or third party advertising

Based in Antwerpen, Belgium and Los Angeles, USA, Funky Bots was founded in 2014 by Rosa Mei. The Funky Bots team is made up of professional performing artists who are also parents who want kids everywhere to know and love movement and music. Rosa Mei is a choreographer, dancer and martial artist. Artistic Director of Cie 13 (Belgium), she holds an MFA in dance and speaks seven languages. In New York, she created designs for the NBA, NY Knicks, MSG and MTV. In Europe, she has made over 30 pieces for stage and performed in 22 countries throughout the world. She is a proud mother of twins. Originally from Nantes, France, Teddy Guilbaud is a beatboxer extraordinaire, percussionist and jazz musician. He is also a mad slam and rap artist. In addition to his collaborations with Cie 13, he also creates music for Cirque Equinoctis (an equestrian circus). The programming team behind BoomKLAKers consists of Maya Milusheva and Mihail Minkov, founders of Plushie Games in Sofia, Bulgaria. They are superstars in the underground hacking community. (C) 2014 Funky Bots LLC / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPod, the iPod logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.